


Crocodile

by dracox_serdriel



Series: Her Dark Works [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Begging, Character Death, Execution, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Loss, Minor Character Death, Revenge, The Enchanted Forest, The Jolly Roger, Violence, extreme violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 08:26:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5283749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracox_serdriel/pseuds/dracox_serdriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tragedy aboard the Jolly Roger ignites a battle between pirates. Will Hook and Emma still be able to destroy the Dark One when the dust settles?</p><p><strong>Her Dark Works</strong> takes place in an alternate universe where Emma Swan was born and raised in the Enchanted Forest. One day, things go horribly wrong, and she abandons her birthright and throne to seek revenge on the Dark One. What happens when a woman born to be the Savior of the Realm joins forces with the Vengeful Pirate of Neverland?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Man from Medan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Emma's aid, Hook defends the Jolly Roger from an old foe.

Hook stared at his crew, dead and strewn about the ship. Whatever did this struck them all at once.

"The talisman I created protects this ship from any denizen from the Sea Kingdom," Emma said. "The ship and her crew."

"This wasn't a sea beast, Emma," he replied trying to keep his composure. "Look at them. It was as if they were hit by lightning, but there's not a mark on them. Like a bloody plague."

"The Jolly Roger should've been safe from anything that the Sea Kingdom could throw at us," she replied.

"And what about those things not of the Sea Kingdom?" a man asked as he appeared from below deck.

"Blackbeard!" Hook snarled. 

"My dear Hook," Blackbeard said. "Didn't you know that a captain should never abandon his ship?"

"I've never abandoned her!"

"Who is this guy?" Emma asked him.

"A scoundrel and a liar who has coveted my ship for many a year," Hook replied. "He's the coward behind all this."

"Coward? Hardly. I wanted the Jolly Roger, so I made arrangements to that end. Of course, that also requires you to be dead, which means we have some unfinished business."

Emma raised her sword, but he stopped her. 

"This is my battle, love," he said. "Besides, one of us must check for survivors below deck."

"He's wielding magic," she protested.

"Wielded, past tense," Blackbeard interrupted. "The Man from Medan who turns many a splendid crew into ghost ships from midnight to dawn. For my part, I am glad you weren't aboard when I delivered my magic, Hook, because now I get to drive my sword through you!"

He wasn't worried about defeating Blackbeard, but if he had used magic to attack the ship, then he could have more up his sleeve.

_Emma is all I have left._

The thought stung him deeply. He had good men aboard this ship, and Blackbeard had slaughtered them like cattle. No doubt he was behind the enchanted sea serpent attack as well. 

"Go, Swan," he said to her. "This battle is between me and him."

"Killian, I - "

"GO!" he interrupted, ignoring the fact that his heart jumped when she used his real name.

* * *

Emma had heard of the Man from Medan curse, and she knew it left no survivors. Had Hook not asked her to linger on the gig with him to show her the sunrise, the curse would've killed them, too.

But she went below deck anyway, making her way over to Hook's quarters. She found a small bottle of elixir that could save her and Hook should the curse be re-activated and pocketed it just in case.

There weren't that many people who had heard of the Man from Medan curse and even fewer who dare enact it. There was only one person that someone like Blackbeard would go to for this kind of assistance: the Dark One.

So she checked for her photo of the dagger and the sorcerer's box, both of which were both safely cloaked and right where she left them. She tucked them safely away and returned to the deck.

* * *

Hook readied his cutlass. Blackbeard brandished his sword. He made the first move, thrusting his blade at the coward's throat, but a parry knocked it aside.

Soon they were slashing and stabbing across the deck. Hook was careful to avoid his crew's bodies, but Blackbeard was not so kind, happily stepping on hands and legs or kicking faces as he went. He did it on purpose, trying to incense Hook, and it was working.

"What kind of coward slaughters an entire crew with a magic spell?" Hook asked.

"What kind of fool leaves his ship for a tryst with his latest lust?" Blackbeard fired back.

"Tell me, what demon cursed this ship? Was it the Sea Witch? Some dark wizard? Or did you just resort to poison? Bad form all around, Blackbeard!"

Their swords continued to clash, and Blackbeard trapped his cutlass for a moment.

"The Dark One sends his regards," Blackbeard said with a grin as he moved to drive his sword through Hook.

He countered his move, tripping Blackbeard up, and swung his cutlass down behind him, slicing at his leg, and the cur shouted in pain. Hook didn't wait for another opportunity. His hook caught Blackbeard at his neck, and he pushed his cutlass through his back and into his heart. 

Technically it was bad form to stab a man in the back, but Hook was only behind him because the man couldn't keep his sword in the right place. He kicked the man off his cutlass and tossed his bleeding, writhing body overboard.

As he watched Blackbeard sink beneath the surface, Hook let out a scream that had built up in his chest. His entire crew murdered by the bloody Crocodile. Would he ever really be rid of that monster?

* * *

Emma returned in time to see Hook throw Blackbeard off the ship. She wanted to go to him, but as he stood on the edge of his ship, he wailed. She knew that particular cry all too well and wasn't sure he'd want her company.

His form crumpled to the deck, and she couldn't stand here and do nothing. She had to go to him.

"Tick, tock, dearie!" 

That voice was in her nightmares, echoing over Neal's dying moments, over Henry disappearing into that mirror. 

"Never send a pirate to get the job done!"

Hook was thrown across the deck with the wave of a hand, and the Dark One bore down on him with his own cutlass. The evil imp sliced Hook across the abdomen, disemboweling him. 

"NO!" Emma shouted. "STOP!"

"Emma... run!" Hook said.

"Oh, and what do we have here, dearie?" the Dark One asked as he wiped Hook's blood off his own blade. "Two enemies for the price of one trip. Never better!"

The Dark One raised the cutlass, gave a little laugh, and charged Emma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name of this chapter is from the legend of the SS Ourang Medan ghost ship, whose name roughly translates to "Man from Medan."


	2. Boxing the Compass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hook struggles to survive, and Emma runs a desperate play to save him.

Hook fought to stay conscious, hoping he'd find the strength to retrieve the squid ink he'd stashed in his vest, but he soon discovered that moving his hand or hook just a little caused a considerable increase in pain. It made sense, given that his insides were spilling out. He knew that once a certain level of pain was reached, he would fall unconscious, so he kept still.

He knew his battle with the Crocodile would be the end of him, but he didn't want it to be the end of Emma Swan. She had a boy and parents, not to mention her siblings.

In the past few weeks, he had begun to dream about sailing the realms with her, searching for a way to get to her boy in the Land without Magic. He had even devised a plan of sorts to show her that there was yet hope. He had sent for information about those who travel with portals, for if there was no way to the Land without Magic in this realm, then surely the other realms must have something to offer. It hadn't occurred to him until this moment, when his stomach was slashed opened and he was clinging to life, that what he had really been planning wasn't a token of thanks but a future.

Somehow, she had given him hope, and he only noticed now that it had been stolen away again.

He wanted to live, but more than that, he wanted Emma to survive.

The Dark One charged Emma down with Hook's cutlass, and she, remarkable creature that she was, stood her ground. As he neared her, a bolt of energy struck the Dark One, throwing him across the deck, where he landed hard against the mast. 

She ran to Hook and touched him, and he felt a surge of power roll through his body. It felt wonderful, then horrible, and when it stopped, his wound was gone. His insides were back where they belonged.

"Get up," she said.

He tried, but despite her healing touch, the pain was still there, as if he were still dying.

"Seems to me you're pirate's a little shoddy," the Dark One gloated. "A shame. I actually felt that one! You've been practicing!"

"What did you do?" she snarled.

"Cursed his cutlass to ensure his demise, obviously," the Dark One replied. "Oh my, dearie, don't have anything against a curse like that? That's too bad. You won't be able to save yourself."

The Dark One held the cutlass up with a wicked smile on his face. Hook saw it in his face: victory. He didn't have to kill her today because he had slaughtered the entire crew of the Jolly Roger, even her captain, and Emma Swan would again stand alone. Once word spread, who would aid her?

"Heal him," she said.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that, dearie."

"Heal him, now!"

"Perhaps you've forgotten your place. Again. You are nothing more than the whore that stole my son from me. The only thing I want from you is your pain and misery, and there's no need for me to barter for that, now is there?"

"I have something you want."

Realizing what she was about to do, Hook struggled to do something, anything, but his entire body fought back.

"Emma, no, don't do it!" he said.

Emma turned one hand up and cast a ball of light at Hook's chest, and with the other, she produced a small box. 

"I've just cast a... what was it you called it? A 'return-to-owner' spell," Emma said. "I've linked it to Hook, so if he dies, this box goes back to its master, and you will never see it again."

The Dark One's composure changed as soon as he saw the box. He dropped the cutlass to his side, the desire clear as day in his eyes.

"Emma, I'm not worth it," Hook said. "If you... if you do this now, what about fulfilling your boy's prophecy?"

For the first time since she healed Hook, she took her eyes off the Dark One. She made eye contact and quietly said, "I want you to live."

The Dark One laughed. It was a high-pitched, mocking sound that set Hook's teeth on edge.

"The princess whore meets the one-handed pirate and decide to take out their vengeance on me, only for her to fall in love with him!" the Dark One mocked. "You must know that he doesn't feel the same way. He's spent centuries at sea trying to kill me, and he wouldn't let some blond bobble-head change that, dearie."

"I give you this box, you save Hook's life, and you leave me, him, and this ship alone forever," she said, the fierceness still present in her voice. 

"How can I be sure that this is the real box?" he asked. 

"You want to test it? Fine!" she replied. "But he doesn't have much time left, Dark One. Tick tock."

She tossed it over, and the Crocodile snatched it from the air with a triumphant look on his face.

"No, Emma - " Hook said, but he was took weak to continue.

The Dark One materialized his dagger and waved it over the box a few times. A star-spotted hat appeared.

"Do we have a deal?" Emma asked.

"Null and void if you or he tries to kill me again," he replied. 

"Fine."

Hook repeated, "No, Emma - "

Then everything went dark.


	3. The Bitter End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma makes a deal with the Dark One to save Hook's life.

"Deal," the Dark One said with triumph written all over his face.

That was when she hit him with the squid ink.

Her plan always required an element of surprise, and the best she could improvise on a moment's notice was levitating the jar of squid ink out of sight and around the entire ship so she could hit him from behind.

He made a startled gasping sound, and a blue haze covered his skin, confirming that the ink worked. He was paralyzed, so she went straight for his dagger.

"I command you, Dark One, to restore Hook to health," she ordered.

The squid ink hadn't worn off, but so strong was the thrall of the dagger that the Dark One struggled against it. 

She saw that Hook had gone unconscious, but he was still alive. He had to be.

She didn't want him to live because she loved him. He was a good man at some point in his life, but his dedication to vengeance had turned him cold and cruel. Given time, he could heal, so long as he slew the monster. She didn't love him. She couldn't love him, not after Neal, but she did believe he had a future beyond this, though she didn't know if she'd be a part of it or not.

At least, that's what she told herself.

The paralysis lasted for another minute, but it felt like years by Emma's count. As soon as she saw signs of it wearing off, she clutched the dagger more tightly.

"I command you, Dark One, to restore Hook," she repeated. "Remove the curse you laid on him and his cutlass."

The Dark One opened his mouth, but Emma didn't want him to speak. As if the thought were a command, his voice was gone.

"Now!" she ordered.

The Dark One waved a hand, and the cutlass returned to Hook's side. In the next instant, Hook opened his eyes, bewildered and very much alive.

"Emma?" he asked.

"Can you hold this for me?" she asked, casually offering him the dagger. "Order him to hold still."

"With pleasure," Hook replied as he took it. "Huh, I expected a clever remark from him."

"If you don't want him to speak, he can't."

"I command you, Dark One, to stand there, saying nothing, looking like a fool," Hook said.

Emma reached in and pulled out his heart, which was a tiny, blackened husk, pitiful in every way. She took the hat and held it over the heart, and from the look of terror on the Dark One's face, she was doing something right.

She chanted, "Purest evil, blackest bloom, darkness, too, can find its doom. Never dying, but contained, bound inside the falcon's chamber, shorn of anger, thornless danger, there forever to remain."

The blackness of his heart slipped out like water, cascading into streams of darkness, racing into the hat, which glowed as it consumed the powers of the Dark One.

The heart was white as glass. The spell was complete.

Rumpel, the man who was once the Dark One, ran across the deck.

"Bloody hell, I ordered him not to move!"

"He's not the Dark One anymore, which means he's no longer under the dagger's power," she said. She held up his heart. "Luckily, I still have this."

He smiled at her, setting butterflies loose in her stomach.

"Come back here right now," she ordered via the heart in her hands.

Rumpel walked back to the two of them, pleading and begging for his life, making excuses about the darkness forcing him to do terrible things.

"Shut your mouth, coward!" Hook yelled. "If there is any truth to your words, then answer me honestly. Is there any way for Emma to return to her son Henry?"

"I'm sorry, there isn't," he said. "But I - "

"Silence!" Emma ordered. "Kneel."

Rumpel obeyed, whimpering and sobbing. 

"I believe the honor is yours," she said to Hook.

She replaced Rumpel's heart and stood behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him kneeling.

"Please don't. Please don't!" Rumpel screeched.

Hook drove his cutlass through his chest, then slashed his throat with his hook. Blood poured out of the man, who seemed smaller than she recalled.

"We did it," Hook said. 

"We did it."

He dropped his blade and pulled her into a long kiss, and her heart skipped several beats as his lips covered hers. 

She was done. She was free. She survived killing the Dark One, and she had... something. She didn't know what Hook was to her, but it was more than she had yesterday.

* * *

Hook held Emma in his arms on his ship. His entire crew was dead, but so was the Crocodile. She did it. They did it.

He was going to tell her that the Dark One was wrong, that he did care for her. Then he would show her his plan for finding a way to Henry, and they would sail together, alone, for as a long as it took to find him.

But right now, she was in his arms, his lips on his, and he didn't want to let her go. When the kiss broke apart, she nestled her nose into the crook of his neck.

His mind wandered, and he thought about their brief time together. While they were docked, he had taken her riding to discuss their plans in private, but he had also arranged to spend the night at a secluded cabin not far from the harbor. Emma asked him to take her on every surface: the bed, the couch, the table, the floor, the walls. He had obliged her, taking nearly the entire night to fulfill her request. It had been magnificent. The last time resonated with him, for she cried out his name. Not 'Hook' or 'Captain,' but his real name, Killian.

The memory of her shouting, "Killian! Killian!" over and over again pushed him to speak. 

"Emma," he said. "I need you to know, what he said about me, it wasn't true. I do care - "

A rush of wind interrupted him, and he knew from the moment it touched him that it was unnatural. It was coming from the starry hat.

"Swan, what's happening?" 

"I don't know," she replied.

He held onto her, tightening his grip as the hat moved about wildly of its own accord. Then tendrils of darkness burst free, rising into the air before cascading down around them.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted.

Emma twisted his good hand, which still held the Dark One dagger, and he dropped it. 

The tendrils dispersed again, but they rounded on them, as if reassessing a target. She looked down, and he knew in that moment that she realized something he didn't.

"Goodbye, Hook," she said before shoving him away.

He fell over the Crocodile's dead body, slipping in his blood before he crashed to the deck. Emma took hold of the dagger and raised it in front of her as the darkness descending down on them. 

But wasn't _them_ anymore. It was her. The vines of darkness twisted around her like a noose closing around someone's neck. She slashed it with the dagger, and then the shadows became whole, completely blocking her from view.

"Emma!" he shouted as he got to his feet. 

But it was too late. The darkness receded into the sky, taking her with it, and then disappeared somewhere between him and the stars.

With a clatter, the dagger fell back to the deck. He picked it up and saw that it had changed. 

The dagger now read 'Emma Swan.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fear not! Her Dark Works continues with Episode #5 "[Flying Dutchman](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5291771/chapters/12215624)."


End file.
